Multiple motorists offered to purchase the beverage for him, but Bessem said blocking the restaurant’s queue was about much more than getting his morning coffee:

“I’ve been a truck driver for 40 years and I’m very disappointed with Tim Horton’s that they won’t do this for drivers – essential workers.”

The truck driver – who asked to remain anonymous – corroborated his reasoning for the demonstration.

The video has since went viral, striking a chord with people all over the country who want to ensure truckers can find places to eat on their routes in the face of widespread restaurant closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The footage has had more than 100,000 views and 8,300 shares in less than a week’s time.

The franchise at 26474 56 Ave. shuttered in-store service mid-March to comply with a provincial health order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“It is simply not safe to allow guests to walk through the drive-thru lane,” Tim Horton’s spokesperson Meghan Giffin told the Aldergrove Star on Tuesday.

Giffin added that, in solidarity with the trucker, the restaurant owner has implemented a carry-out system for truckers to get fed.

In Aldergrove, “signage has been posted, asking truck drivers to call a phone number so our team members can take their order and hand it off to them in a safe manner,” Giffin confirmed.

According to the company, more than 400 of its Canadian locations have introduced similar ordering options for truck drivers whose rigs are too large to navigate its drive-thrus.

The Aldergrove Tim Horton’s is located just off of the Trans-Canada Highway’s 264th Street exit.